What Wed Like to See from Google Before 2009 - Fourth Thing

What We'd Like to See
from Google Before 2009

4. Monetize YouTube

Assuming settling with Viacom is not a prerequisite for making money from video ads, Google really needs to step up its YouTube monetization efforts. Google CEO Eric Schmidt has said neither Google nor anyone has figured out the slam dunk to getting users to click on ads. Prerolls, overlays and in-video ads have all had different results. Some proclaim video to be one of the next green fields for online advertising; Google needs to solve this puzzle before someone else does.

Can Google equal or surpass the $17.6 billion or so it earned in online advertising in 2007? That remains to be seen, as do several other things as Google hurtles forward in high-tech for the last four months of the year. In 2007, the company added some more irons to the fire with Android and OpenSocial, both of which should bear some fruit this year. But it's also lost key team members to rival Facebook. Here's what we'd like to see from Google before the New Year.